


Faces in the Crowd

by shadowed_sunsets



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-06
Updated: 2010-05-06
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowed_sunsets/pseuds/shadowed_sunsets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a faraway planet during a well-deserved shopping trip, Rose and the Doctor are confronted with faces that are all too familiar... from the past and the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Faces in the Crowd 1/?  
> Characters/Pairings: Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose  
> Genre: Drama, Fluff  
> Rating: PG  
> Warnings: None... really..  
> Spoilers: S1/S2 (takes place somewhere in S1 and S2)  
> Beta: The wonderful Shanya (doves_wing) who somehow managed to put up with me long enough to read this for me. Thanks for all your pointers and rereadings dear!  
> Summary: On a faraway planet during a well-deserved shopping trip, Rose and the Doctor are confronted with faces that are all too familiar... from the past and the future.  
> A/N: Well, after many reworkings and rewritings this is finally ready to post. It'll be put up in just a few parts as I fiddle with LJ's limits. The idea always just interested me... so when I finally put pen to paper (literally) this is what came out.  
> Disclaimer: All characters belong to the BBC. I make no profit from this work of fiction.

Rose entered the console room dressed in a comfortable outfit of blue jeans, t-shirt and a dark hoodie she couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn. It was no surprise to her that the Doctor was standing next to the console with a wild grin on his face.

At the sight of that grin, Rose felt the excitement in her grow; it could only mean one thing when the Doctor was involved.

He had yet another exciting and running-involved adventure in mind for them.

“Where’re we going this time?” She questioned him with a grin all her own as she walked quickly over to him and stopped at his side.

The Time Lord frowned, giving her the best mopey look he had, “Don’t you want to be   
surprised?”

Rose laughed, looking cheekily at him, “You know I love surprises Doctor, but with you they usually don’t end well. They’re not good surprises.”

“Rose,” He whined. Time Lord or not, he still always fell for her teasing.

Despite knowing it was an act, Rose reached out with her hand to gently take his in hers and intertwined their fingers, squeezing them lightly.

“C’mon then, let’s go,” She coaxed, smiling up at him with her tongue between her teeth.

For a few seconds he looked at her, just looked at her. That was until a smile slowly grew across his face again and he squeezed her hand before moving away to a different part of the console. His eyes stayed locked on hers as he performed his usual routine of rushing around the console prior to them arriving somewhere.

And then, his hand poised on the lever just waiting to send them off, the Doctor flashed her a wild grin and cried, “Allons-y!” before pulling the lever down.

Rose laughed as the sound of the TARDIS engines filled the room, and the green pillar of the Time Rotor began moving up and down. No matter how many times they did this, no matter how many adventures they had, this never once got old. It was always so remarkably thrilling.

“Off we go then,” the Doctor commented from the other side of the console as he went around checking things, “This won’t take long, I,-“

Suddenly ,the room rocked violently around her, and she saw the Doctor grabbing onto the console as he swayed back and forth. That was before she had to make a lunge for something to steady her as her feet were nearly jerked out from under her.

“Thought you said this’d be safe and quick!” Rose called across to him over the noise of things flying about.

“I never said it would be safe, just quick!” The Doctor yelled back, sounding distracted. “Besides, I’d have thought you would be used to this kind of thing by now!”

Rose opened her mouth to make a teasing remark of her own, but then suddenly the TARDIS stopped rocking around them, and her feet found solid ground again.

Pausing a moment to catch her breath, Rose straightened, and then released her death grip on the console before she asked, “Is that a confession of just how bad your driving really is?”

“Rose,” the Doctor scolded her, giving her a mock-glare as he tried to look stern and yet failed, “You know full well that there’s nothing wrong with my driving. It’s perfect, and we always land... somewhere.”

She found it amusing he was trying so badly to scold her for just bruising his already over-inflated ego. “Well,” Rose said, shrugging, “Seems to be one thing that stays the same regeneration to regeneration.”

Rose watched as he seemed to struggle with a response, opening and shutting his mouth several times before he simply gave up and decided to change the topic altogether.

“Well, let’s see where we are then,” the Doctor proclaimed, moving in the direction of the monitor before turning it towards him. He pulled out his glasses and put them on, staring at the display.

“Or, not. Nothing’s showing up on the screen even though I know we’ve landed.” The Time Lord smacked the side of the monitor then flinched when it sparked back at him. “Ow!” He exclaimed, putting the injured finger to his mouth before turning to look apologetically at Rose. “She won’t let me see what’s outside, but everything else seems to say it’s fine.” The Doctor lowered his hand from his mouth to grin warmly at her, “So, what do you say? Should we explore a little?” He asked, holding his hand out to her invitingly.

“Of course!” Rose agreed, rushing forward to take his hand again and then letting him pull her towards the doors and lead her outside, pausing only to securely shut the doors behind them.

As the Doctor closed the doors,  Rose took the moment to step away from the TARDIS and gaze around them, turning in a slow circle.

“This place looks amazing!” The girl exclaimed, enjoying all of the new sights and smells around her- a new world. “Can’t wait to look around,” she turned back to the Doctor who was looking at her with an amused expression as he met her wide hazel eyes. “Show me?”

He took a step forward and took her hand again. “Of course, just remember the rules all right?” The Doctor reminded her sternly, and then his gaze slid away from her to look around them for himself.

A few seconds later his smile faded into a thoughtful frown and he began looking at their surroundings with a new level of study.

“Wait a minute,” he said, dark eyes moving quickly. “This place looks really familiar, I’m just not sure why…”

All of a sudden, the Doctor looked like a light bulb had gone on over his head as understanding finally dawned on him. “No,” he whispered in both wonder and denial, “It can’t be…”

Turning his astonished gaze on Rose, she started in surprise when he suddenly turned and began hurrying towards the mouth of the alleyway pulling her along with him.

“Doctor? Doctor, what’s wrong?” Rose asked him anxiously, wondering what seemed to have him so worried.

To her surprise and slight annoyance, the Doctor simply continued leading her down the alleyway before coming to a sudden stop right before they would have stumbled out into the street.

Rose turned to face him as she pulled her hand from his and asked again, “Doctor, what’s wrong? Shouldn’t we be here?”

The Doctor turned back to her from where he had been surveying the street and gave her a reassuring smile that she hadn’t been expecting.

“Look Rose,” he instructed her quietly, and placed his hands on her shoulders to turn her to face the street. “Do you feel anything familiar about this place? Do you recognize anything?”

“Doctor,” she began to protest, but then once she saw the encouraging look he was giving her she turned back to look around.

There were people walking past them in the street, dressed in clothes that weren’t too different from her own, and in the middle of the square was a beautiful stone fountain. Rose frowned, eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out what the Doctor wanted her to see.

Between each block of buildings were streets that led out from the center square to the edge of the city. And from what she could see of these streets there seemed to be stalls set up in front of the buildings.

The sight of these stalls seemed to connect with something in her mind as all of a sudden she remembered standing in front of one of these stalls looking at a table full of jewelry.

Rose raised her head and turned towards the Doctor, only to find him looking back at her with a knowing but somewhat anxious expression. She frowned, wondering why but was too caught up in her new memory to ask him. It was as if seeing those stalls had let loose a flood of memories that had been held back somehow until now.

“We came here before,” Rose began slowly, sharing her memories with him as they came to her. “Not this you, but the old you,” she corrected herself and then glanced up to gauge his reaction to that, but he only nodded and waved at her to continue. “You’d told me they had a market with special jewelry I’d like, and I was looking at earrings when I turned and you were gone. I looked around but couldn’t find you anywhere and just when I was really worried a man with messy brown hair, wearing a brown suit came up and asked if he could show me around the market.” Rose smiled, “I knew I shouldn’t have but he seemed so kind… and so safe…”

Rose gasped, eyes refocusing on the Doctor to find the anxiety gone, replaced completely by amusement and that knowing smirk.

She stared at him, taking in his appearance that she had seen hundreds of times every day but had never really consciously noticed, matching him with the stranger in her memory.

“Now she gets it!” The Doctor crowed as her hands flew up to cover her open mouth and her brown eyes grew wide.

“Oh, my, god! That was _you_?!” Rose exclaimed in disbelief, her voice rising in pitch. She slapped him lightly on the arm, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugged, leaning back against the wall as if this wasn’t upsetting at all. “Didn’t remember, not until we landed and I realized where we were anyway.”

“But, why did you remember more quickly than I did? And why didn’t either of us remember until we got here?” Rose asked him curiously, confused by this since it no doubt involved things she still knew so little about.

“Well,” the Doctor began slowly, his gaze flickering away from her for several seconds before it returned again as he continued, “Being a Time Lord helps of course,” he said, grinning at her. “But, as I remember now, last time we left- the old me and the old you- I had to lock away both of our memories so we wouldn’t remember until we came to this planet again- as these us. As who we are now, I mean, so we could play though the other half of what happened and fulfill the timeline.”

When Rose stared at him, biting her lip, he could practically see her trying to work out what he was trying to say. So he sighed, and tried another way to explain.

“You see Rose, we couldn’t remember earlier because,” he paused, trying to find a way to help her understand without him using the detailed technical terms that he knew mostly went over her head (especially since sometimes he was just making it up on the spot), “I would have known that I was going to regenerate soon and also what my next body would look like. And not only would you also know that something was going to happen to me, but also that we were still traveling together. It’s dangerous to know your own future Rose, and me being a Time Lord and all even more so.” He took a step towards her, lightly placing his hands on her upper arms. “So we couldn’t remember until now.”

After a few long silent moments Rose nodded and raised her hands to gently pry his off of her arms with a slight smile. “’Kay, so we couldn’t remember before because it would’ve been bad- I get it. But, why’re we here now, all of a sudden?”

He smiled softly at her and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat. “It was the right time for us to experience the other half of our memories, and the TARDIS brought us here when we needed to be here and when the time was right. Now we have to fulfill our side of the timeline, otherwise our memory of being here as our younger selves will vanish because it never happened for them. We can’t intervene in _their_ timeline so they remember meeting us. It’s a kind of circle that loops back on itself: without us they won’t have memories of this and without them we wouldn’t remember it having happened.”

The Doctor’s soft smile grew into one of his excited grins and she just knew he was going to make a crazy suggestion like he usually did. “Besides, don’t you want to see what the other half is like? You spending time with the old me and me spending time with the younger you?” His eyes lit up and leaned forward in towards her, “Come on Rose, this’ll be fun! Trust me, please.”

“Of course,” Rose agreed quickly; now that she understood what was happening she truthfully _was_ a little excited. Still holding his hand Rose leaned over out towards the square to look around again. Everything looked very familiar now as the memories were slowly trickling back to her, but she still didn’t see her old Doctor or her younger self an ywhere in sight.

“We’re probably not out in the square Rose,” the Doctor told her as he stepped up next to her and released one of her hands. “I found you at one of the stalls, and I’d guess… a lot of something… that this m e found that you at a different stall. So we’ll have to track the old us down somewhere nearby.”

Before Rose could say anything, the Doctor was pulling her out of the alleyway and into the street, using their linked hands to weave around the other people walking in the square.


	2. Faces in the Crowd 2/?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a faraway planet during a well-deserved shopping trip, Rose and the Doctor are confronted with faces that are all too familiar... from both their past and future.

“Doctor!” She protested, having to jog slightly in order to catch up with him- he was truly very excited about this, just like he was for every adventure. “Doctor, slow down!” Rose called, laughing at his enthusiasm; he really was like a little kid sometimes. But then her amusement died as the thought came to her that maybe he was so excited because he was eager to see that younger her, that he wanted to travel with that her instead of the Rose Tyler she was now. Maybe the Doctor didn’t want to be with her anymore. Rose shook her head, trying desperately to squash that thought. She was wrong; the Doctor wasn’t like that at all- even if he had changed. This was just another adventure to him, a fulfilling of the timelines; he wasn’t going to leave her here with the other Doctor and then go off with the younger her instead. He was _her_ Doctor and she knew they would keep traveling together for as long as they had.

Having let him pull her along as those mistrustful thoughts flooded her mind, Rose hurried to catch up with him and then pulled him off to the side of the street.

“Doctor, wait,” she pleaded with him, trying not to let her words show how upset she was.

He raised his head to look at her, the excitement dying into worry as he took in her expression. “Rose? What’s wrong? What’s the matter? Are you all right?” The Doctor asked question after question of her in a rush, worry evident in his voice and in the way he was looking at her- dark eyes scanning every inch of her face over and over again.

Rose shook her head and placed a hand on his chest, quickly stopping his rush of words. “I’m fine Doctor, really,” she added when she saw he didn’t believe her. “I just, need to ask you something.”

Rose paused, biting her lip as wondered exactly how to ask him.

As her silence continued the Doctor said her name softly and took a step forward so they were nearly pressed up against each other.

At the sign of movement Rose looked up without meaning to and the look in his eyes, the warmth and fondness in his gaze melted away almost any doubts she had had.

“What Rose?” His so familiar voice asked quietly and his arms came around her, supporting her.

With that silent encouragement from him she nearly fell apart and the words fell unchecked from her lips, “it’s silly really, it’s just… with the old you and me here I was scared that, that you might run away with that me- that you preferred traveling with her instead of me.”

A few seconds after she finished with her rushed explanation he simply stood staring at her so intensely that her gaze flickered away from his and down to the ground- his arms around her her only support.

But then Rose heard him exhale slowly and whisper softly, “Oh, Rose,” before he pulled her into his arms and held her there tightly. She felt him lightly kiss the top of her head and then rest his cheek against it.

“That’s not it at all Rose. Here and now, this me and this you traveling together _that_ is what I prefer. I’d never leave you on your own to go off traveling with another you, or with someone else. It’s the two of us, you and me, that belong together while the other us also belong with each other in their own respective timeline.” He paused for a moment and Rose felt worry begin to seep over her again until he continued after what seemed like a long time. Of course, there had been that time with him and Reinette- but the two of them had eventually gotten over that hurdle in their relationship, and it had only brought them closer together. “It’s this you, this Rose Tyler, who is brilliant and has seen so much with me.”

The Doctor pulled gently away, his arms loosening from around her and his reassuring presence fading so alarmingly that Rose opened her eyes and raised her head to look at him again.

He was smiling warmly at her, one of the smiles that actually reached his eyes, and never once broke eye contact as he reached out to take her hands in his. “And it’s these hands,” he continued softly, raising their hands to chest-level as their fingers intertwined, “that I took all that time ago when we first met and I said ‘run’ to you, and its these hands that I’ve held ever since and that I want to keep holding for as long as I can.”

Rose smiled weakly, finding herself blinking back tears. It may sound cheesy to anyone else, but holding hands was more than that for her and the Doctor. That seemingly small gesture meant so much more; it was reassurance, it was comfort, it was support… it was home. After he had regenerated, the moment he had held his hand out to her and given her _that_ look she had realized what her heart had known all along: he was still the Doctor, her Doctor, even if he had changed his face.

She squeezed their linked hands and lightly pulled them towards her to rest against her heart. “Forever,” Rose corrected him gently, repeating her promise.

Although she’d reminded him of her promise before, he still looked surprised and a little worried at her words- even if he didn’t manage to hide the flash of gratitude she had seen light his eyes for a few seconds from her.

A few seconds later the Doctor finally opened his mouth, that usually overactive mind of his kicking into gear once more and began quietly in a faintly stern voice, “Rose…”

Knowing that he was just once again going to tell her that no matter how hard they tried they wouldn’t have forever, she shook her head and released one of his hands to lightly place a finger against his mouth, quieting him. “Don’t Doctor, please don’t. We have as long as we have, yeah?” Rose smiled at him with her usual cheeky grin, “so we’ll just have to make it worth it, and fill our time with adventures- lot’s of them. Of the running-for-our-lives and the not as much running kind.”

The Doctor’s mouth curled into a smile before he reached up and gently pulled her finger away to tightly hold her hand.

“Just like today?” He asked in his usual cheerful way, eyes bright but not too-bright.

Rose nodded. “Just like today,” she agreed, and then her grin grew across her face as she turned so now she was the one with her back to the square. The girl then pulled the Doctor along with her so they were in the middle of the street, the other pedestrians parting around them. “So, let’s get going then!” She announced excitedly, beginning to pull him down the street and then laughed when he followed her with just as much energy until they were side-by-side, linked hands swinging between them.

But then, just as she was about to sprint down one of the streets to the right side of the square from where they’d parked and the one that looked the most familiar to her, the Doctor pulled her back by their linked hands from the mouth of the street.

“Rose, wait! We need to think about this first,” he warned her in a hushed voice as he pulled her back towards him.

She turned around to look at him impatiently, sighing loudly. “Doctor! What do we need to think about? And this from the man who as far as I know tends to make things up as he goes along?”

“Rose!” The Doctor scolded, but instead of trying to defend himself he simply continued on, “It’s very, very important that my younger self and your younger self don’t see us, or know we’re them. All that can happen is just as we remember: your younger self and I going around to the stalls together and my old self and you wandering around as well. Under no means can we run across our younger selves- and this is just as important as it was when we were in that church, hiding, with you and the baby you.” He took a step forward so they were less than a foot apart and gazed intently at her, his voice quiet but firm. “Do you understand Rose?”

For a few seconds, memories of that day flashed through her mind, the time when they’d gone back to see her father and she’d sat with him as he died. But then Rose shook her head, casting away those memories as she nodded, “I understand, promise,” She vowed.

The Doctor studied her for a few seconds before he seemed to finally understand she was telling the truth. “All right then,” he chirped as his smile returned. “Now, do you remember where you were when I found you?”

Rose bit her lip, thinking, before she turned partially back towards the street and poked her head around the corner. “Think I was maybe a bit of the way down on the right, at one of the jewelry stalls,” she told him, looking back at him again.

“Right then and I was a few stalls down from you on the left. The one with the parts for… things,” the Doctor told her before pulling her into a tight hug.

When he released her again he held out his hand to her so she could take it and shake it, “Happy wandering.”

Rose laughed, “Happy wandering,” she agreed, shaking his hand. Then the Doctor stepped back and gave her a light push a few steps into the street.

Steeling herself and setting her shoulders, Rose sighed once before beginning to walk down the street searching for her leather-coated Doctor amongst the other shoppers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she walked into the console room that morning, it was no surprise at all to Rose to find the Doctor laying half-under the console, looking like he had been there for hours.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Rose said, moving over to stand next to him.

The Doctor didn’t react at all except to say, his voice slightly muffled, “Not now Rose. I’m working on the TARDIS.”

Rose sighed and crouched down by his side, “You’re always working on the TARDIS, Doctor. And we haven’t been anywhere for days, not any place nice anyways.”

“Thought you liked spending a little down time in the Vortex,” the Time Lord replied huffily, a faint note of hurt in his voice that Rose wasn’t sure was real, or him just being playful.

“I do, Doctor,” Rose reassured him, then lightly pulled on his jumper. “But every girl needs a shopping trip every once in a while, and I’m afraid I’m a bit overdue.” She grinned, “And the fact that it’s not on Earth just makes it better.”

The Doctor made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a laugh to her ears, then pulled himself out from under the console to sit up and look at her.

“Do we have to Rose? You can get anything you want from the wardrobe, I’m sure it has everything you could ever need.” The Doctor reminded her as if she didn’t know.

Rose poked him lightly in the side, “Sure she does, but the shopping experience is the best part of it. C’mon, please?” Rose paused, “Or would you rather come carry stuff for me or go visit my mum?” She offered, feeling slightly bad for playing so dirty with him.

The look on his face at that idea made Rose quickly stifle a laugh as memories of how many times he told her he didn’t do domestic ran through her mind.

It took until a few seconds later when his face fell and he appeared to give in. “All right then, we’ll go,” the Doctor said with a gruff sigh as he climbed to his feet and kicked the toolbox closed.


	3. Chapter 3

“Really?” Rose asked eagerly, getting up and following him around the console. The all-mighty powerful Time Lord was giving into her, just like that? A young, insignificant human girl like her? He had looked at her warmly before and treated her kindly, but she’d never thought it meant anything more than that he liked her better than most people. If she was honest with herself, she had no idea just what their relationship was, even though they’d been traveling together for months now.

He grinned wildly at her from where he was at the controls. “And we’re off!” The Doctor announced.

Rose laughed, then suffered through the usual rocking of the TARDIS as they rode through the Vortex until she finally lost her footing and fell down, managing to pull the Doctor down with her.

When the TARDIS finally stopped rocking around them, the Doctor got up to check where they were, and then helped her up as well.

Rose brushed herself off and peeked at the monitor from beside him, but as usual couldn’t understand anything. “Are we there?” She asked him curiously.

He turned to grin at her, jiggling a few controls as he announced, “That’s right. Welcome to Dayorvin, one of the more out of the way planets in this ga laxy.” The Doctor took her hand and began leading her towards the outer door, but halfway there Rose stopped, her hand falling from his.

“Wait, Doctor,” Rose called to him, and he turned around at the doors to look at her with faint inquiry. “Shouldn’t we change clothes?” When the Doctor simply gave her an amused half-smile, she corrected herself, “Shouldn’t I at least?”

His amusement grew at the question as he walked back up the ramp to stop in front of her. “Don’t worry,” the Time Lord reassured her, smiling softly. “The people on this planet are mostly humanoid, so they look a lot like you. Have nearly the same fashion sense as well,” he gave her outfit a quick glance-over, “just not as colorful.”

Rose gave him an annoyed look and lightly hit his arm, “Quiet you. My outfit’s just fine.” She took his hand again and asked with a smile, “So, you going to play tour guide, or do I have to see the sights on my own?”

The Doctor grinned back at her, saying eagerly, “Well, I suppose I could.” Then he led he hr down the ramp and out through the doors.

Rose blinked in the sudden bright sunlight, and raised her hand to shield her eyes; then, as her eyes adjusted, stared in wonder at the city around her.

“Oh wow! This is amazing!” She turned back to the Doctor, “So just what do they have here?”

Her enthusiasm appeared to be catching as his grin returned and the Doctor walked up next to her. “Well, seeing as today’s a market day for these people, they probably have a lot of things.”

At Rose’s look he sighed and began leading her through the street. “There’re a lot of things Rose; clothes, jewelry, parts for things, knick-knacks,” the Doctor told her as they weaved their away around the people walking by.

Rose’s eyes widened and became brighter. “Jewelry?” She asked eagerly, hurrying so she was walking backwards facing him. “Really?”

His face was the picture of long tested patience as he agreed, “Yeah, really.”

“Well come on then!” The girl exclaimed, pulling him impatiently down the street as if she couldn’t wait to see the jewelry he’d mentioned. “Maybe we can even find something for my mum while we’re here!”

The Doctor let her lead him down the street, since even though she had no idea of where they were going he still felt like pleasing her anyways. She did deserve a shopping trip after all they’d been through lately. But that didn’t necessarily mean he had to go with her while she looked at all the various jewelry stalls. There were some very good places where he could get parts for the TARDIS and he could always get her something later.

“Rose, Rose,” he called, and then when she didn’t stop at the sound of her name he pulled her back towards him, as her excitement seemed to be overwhelming her. “Go ahead and look at the jewelry stalls, most of them’ll be down that way,” the Doctor told her, pointing out a few stalls lining the intersection of the street where they were standing. “And here’s some money for you,” he said, digging some coins out of his pockets to pour them into her hand. “Don’t spend it all in one place,” he teased her, closing her fingers over the coins.

“What, but Doctor-“ Rose began to protest but stopped when he smiled weakly at her.

“Don’t argue with me Rose, just take the money all right? At least this way you can’t call me a cheap date anymore,” he teased again as he turned her around by a hand on her shoulders, and then pushed her gently down the street.

Rose took a step forward then turned partially back towards him with a reluctant look.

“Go on then,” the Doctor encouraged her, waving his hands in a silent ‘go-on’ motion. “I’ll just be a few stalls away, looking at some parts. Promise.”

Suitably reassured, Rose turned back and began walking down the street, making an effort to take in everything around her.

The Doctor watched her for a while before he began moving after her down the street, glancing over the stalls on either side before he found one with parts that caught his eyes. He quickly strode over to look at them more closely.

It was after that while he was bargaining with the vendor for several spare parts that the Doctor noticed someone coming to stand beside him out of the corner of his eyes.

“Doctor?” Asked a soft voice that was only too familiar to him. He turned to see just as he had expected; Rose Tyler standing there several feet away.

“You done shopping then?” The Doctor asked curiously, setting the parts he had been bargaining over back on the table. “That was quick.”

He turned back towards her in time to see confusion flit across her face before she quickly hid it behind a bright smile.

“I didn’t really see anything I liked,” Rose admitted with a shrug, sticking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

The Doctor gave her a blank stare, as if he couldn’t believe what she’d just said, and said lightly, “A planet with uniquely rare jewelry and you couldn’t find anything you liked? Thanks for that. See if I take you anywhere nice again soon.”

Instead of her retaliating to his sarcastic teasing with her own banter like she usually did, Rose simply remained quiet with a soft smile, looking at him as if she hadn’t seen him in more than the few minutes since they’d been parted.

After a few seconds of this the Doctor asked worriedly, “Rose?”

“Hmm?” The girl asked distractedly then jumped slightly and shook herself. “Right, sorry. Are you done looking at the shiny metal things then?”

The Doctor gave her a long curious look before turning back to the vendor and saying, “I’ll take these thanks. And bag them up too, will you?”

From beside him Rose snickered, a, and said lightly, “You’re abandoning your pockets? I’m sure they’ll miss you so much. See if you have room next time you try to store something in them. They’ll rebel against you.”

He turned to look at her as he took the bag from the vendor and gave him a few coins in return with soft thanks. Then, as they began walking down the street, the Doctor turned to ask her, “What’d you mean about my pockets? Besides, a bag’s easier to carry around- don’t need to carry more weight around with me than I already do.”

Rose turned to look at him as they walked. “Your pockets, bigger on the inside right? Just like the TARDIS.” A smile flickered across her face, making her expression something pleasant. “I bet you could fit almost anything in those pockets of yours, am I right?”

The Doctor stared at her in surprise as she looped her arm through his and gave him her tongue-between-her-teeth smile. “When did I tell you about my pockets?” He asked confusedly.

“You didn’t have to tell me Doctor. You keep pulling things out of your pockets that couldn’t ever fit in there usually, so it’s perfectly natural I’d begin to get a bit suspicious,” Rose told him, amusement plain in her voice. “’Sides, superior Time Lord technology and everything, right?”

She kept walking down the street, keeping an eye on him as she glanced over the stalls they were passing, and then found herself suddenly stopped in her tracks as his hold on her pulled her back.

“Doctor?” Rose asked worriedly, turning back towards him as soon as she steadied herself again. It was then that she saw the pain flickering across his face, despite how much he was trying to hide it as those pale eyes of his just looked at her.

“Oh god,” Rose whispered, hand rising to cover her mouth realizing that what she had meant as a joke he had taken as sincere. “Doctor, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean,” she said, voice muffed, then lowered her hand to clasp hers together tightly. “I forgot that,” Rose began and then stopped, “I never meant,” she continued and paused before saying finally, “I’m really, really sorry. Let’s just enjoy ourselves today, okay?”

The Doctor gave her a long look, in just the way that Rose had missed so much from this Doctor. He was studying her closely from behind pale eyes, as if he didn’t know what to do with her. Her Doctor still gave her the same look sometimes, although his was often more tinged with amusement, and accompanied with the light of laughter in his dark eyes.

From one Doctor it was a look of confusion, from the other a look of amusement.

It just made the differences between them even more obvious. Although she could have kicked herself at her thoughtless mention of his lost people, especially since she had briefly forgotten that that wound was still too fresh for this Doctor. She was used to her Doctor who although he never truly forgot, he wasn’t as haunted as this Doctor was- smiling and laughing with what seemed like ease.

But right now, she was with her first Doctor, and it was up to her to take his mind off of such things for today- or for as long as they had together.

“Well, we going to go explore some more or what?” Rose asked as cheerfully as she could, taking his hand again as she gave him her brightest smile.

After a few seconds, he finally returned her smile and gently squeezed her hand. “Yeah, of course,” the Doctor agreed, walking up next to her. “Have lots of things to show you still.”

And with that, the two of them went off hand in hand through the market, stopping every so often to look at the goods of certain stalls that caught their eyes.


	4. Faces in the Crowd

Partially to keep up the pretense that she was his Rose, but also because she really did find them interesting, Rose kept pulling him over to stalls to look at what they had. Of course, she had a feeling that she couldn’t actually buy anything because it would upset the timeline somehow- her buying something to take back to the future from her past. Rose made a note to herself to ask her Doctor about that when she found him again, and also to ask him if this had been such a good idea, since even if they were fulfilling the loop or whatever they were in, it couldn’t be a good idea for the four of them to all be here at once- future and past. Before the two of them had separated, her Doctor had mentioned they couldn’t let their counterparts see them, but that said nothing about all of them being here together at the same time.

Rose turned from where her gaze had drifted unfocused as her thoughts wandered, to look at the Doctor and notice that he was looking sharply at her with that burning gaze of his again.

She quickly gave him a bright smile and glanced down at the table in front of her. When Rose saw a pair of earrings that caught her eye she quickly picked them up and held them out to the Doctor. “Aren’t these beautiful?” She asked brightly, as if she had been looking at them all along instead of woolgathering.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, and continued to look at her for several more seconds before finally nodding. “Sure they are. Told you these people made fantastic jewelry,” he said, his look softening until he was slightly smiling.

“Course you did,” Rose agreed, her face flickering with confusion as she cast her mind back to check if he had indeed told her that, before settling back into a smile. She glanced down at the earrings she held in her hand, and was only slightly surprised to find that she recognized them. Not from the memory of being here, of being at the market, but because these were the earrings the Doctor had surprised her with as a present once they’d gone back to the TARDIS. The earrings that she kept wrapped in her jewelry box in her room, the ones she had never worn but often took out to look at when she was feeling nostalgic for this Doctor.

The Doctor watched Rose curiously as she stood looking down at the earrings in her hand, with a half-smile on her face. She was staring at them as if they meant something to her.

A meaning that even he wasn’t aware of; given that this could only be the first time she’d seen them, seeing as these earrings were special to the people of this planet. And that this was the first time they’d come here together.

Maybe they just reminded her of some more ordinary earrings she’d seen back home somewhere.

Maybe.

“You should buy them if you still have some money left,” the Doctor offered, trying to sound casual, “Bet you’re the only one who’d look good in them.”

Rose seemed to start at the sudden sound of his voice and looked up at him with wide brown eyes. “You think?” She asked curiously, her fingers folding over the earring resting in her palm. She well remembered his way of offering her compliments in backhand ways.

The Doctor nodded.

She thoughtfully bit her bottom lip as she looked at the earrings again, studying them. Her face flickered with wonder, then curiosity and finally dim sadness as she shook her head and gently laid the earrings back on the table.

“Better not. They’re beautiful, but I already have too much jewelry,” Rose commented, casting the earrings one last longing look before she moved back into the crowd of other people walking through the market and was lost to his view.

The Doctor turned back towards the table and lifted a hand to point at the earrings. “How much?” He asked the vendor.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rose walked away from him down the street, looking for his younger self, the Doctor watched her go, unaware of the soft smile on his face.

She had grown so much since the two of them had met, the first time. In just a little while, Rose had gone from a young human girl with so much hidden potential, to a mature young woman who could face down terrifying creatures without a hint of fear.

She was so strong, his Rose. Stronger than he ever could have imagined.

Strong enough to stay by his side and hold his hand through even the hardest times; strong enough not to back down from him even when he was giving back-off vibes so strong that they could no doubt probably feel them in China, and strong enough to push him, even when he was desperately trying to pull away or change the subject.

And then when he had changed his face, the two of them had come even closer. It was as if the few barriers that had been between them in his last body had disappeared mostly with the change.

Especially since, if he was being honest with himself, he had been the one creating those barriers.

The Doctor sighed, making a face as he raised a hand to viciously ruffle his hair.

And that was the real reason they were here, wasn’t it? So that they could connect with their younger selves, as well as with the younger versions of each other.

It was odd, but he remembered all of this happening to the previous him now. Remembered how he had let Rose go off amongst the stalls with resigned amusement, knowing she would take forever amongst the stalls, and would also most likely get into trouble. Being curious when she’d reappeared so suddenly again before realizing that there was something different about her, but not understanding quite what that was. Confused by the smile she kept giving him, by the way she kept looking at him. And then finally returning to the TARDIS with his Rose, knowing there was something timey-wimey about this whole thing but not knowing what exactly- just that it was important for him to erase both his and Rose’s memories.

Now that he was here again, as this him… there were some things to be done. And although he had been completely truthful when he’d told Rose that he wanted to keep traveling with _her_\- he was also a little excited about seeing a Rose from back when they’d first been traveling together.

And this was exactly the opportunity to do so.

After making sure that his younger self and Rose were suitably preoccupied, since by now Rose had probably found the younger him, the Doctor cautiously stepped away from the wall and into the street proper.

Since Rose had told him where she’d been when he stumbled across her, he headed in that direction- careful not to attract either her or his younger self’s attention. It wouldn’t do if that him caught on to what was happening. He couldn’t know, not yet.

As he passed the mismatched pair, the Doctor snuck a quick glance to see that they seemed to be getting along well together- even if that him was naturally suspicious. But then, once he was a few stalls past them, he let out a deep sigh of relief; he was glad that he hadn’t been noticed, and everything seemed to be going fine. Although, he had a feeling it was going to be hard to make sure that him didn’t sense this him somehow. He would just have to trust Rose to keep his younger self occupied.

Now that he was safe, relatively speaking, the Doctor looked over the stalls, searching for the stall where he would find Rose.

It took several tries, as there were more people here and more stalls than he remembered, to spot Rose’s blonde hair amongst the darker hues of the locals. But once he found her, the Doctor was surprised he hadn’t sooner. She stood out so well, in so many ways.

With a cheerful smile on his face and a pronounced spring in his step, the Doctor headed over to the younger version of his Rose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose leaned over the table, hair falling into her face as she looked over the earrings, her eyes taking in all their details.

They were all so beautiful, like nothing she’d ever seen on Earth.

The Doctor did always take her to some beautiful places… at least the few times, when they didn’t have to run for their lives.

As her gaze wandered over the selection of jewelry in front of her, a certain pair of earrings caught her eye.

There wasn’t much to them, but how simple they were just made her like them even more.

They seemed to be made of wood, bent into a round shape with string strung around it. Kind of like a dream catcher from back home, but a really small version. But what fascinated her the most were the two small feathers hanging from the top of each, with a single bead tied into the string.

Rose picked them up to look at them closer, but also to search for a price tag.

It was when she didn’t find one that she began to worry.

The TARDIS might be in her head translating things for her, which she still couldn’t really wrap her mind around, but that still didn’t mean she was completely comfortable when the Doctor left her alone on these alien planets.

And he was always the one telling her not to wander off.

Rose glanced up at the vendor, realizing that he seemed to have been watching her warily for a while now. As if he was suspicious of her, for some reason.

Rose blushed, squirming slightly under his judging gaze. In an attempt to appease him, she pointed at the earrings and asked him, “How much?”

He gave her a long look before saying hostilely, “Ten coins.”

“Oh come now, that’s far too high. You’re robbing the poor girl!”

Rose jumped, almost dropping the earrings at the sudden new voice. She set them back on the table just to be safe, wincing when the vendor glared at her, and turned towards the person who’d spoken up for her.

To her surprise, a man was standing close to her, dressed all in brown layers and looking comfortable despite the slight heat. He wasn’t looking at her, but at the vendor, his hands stuffed in his pockets, seemingly as casual as could be. But there was still just something about him that made her question the truth of his casualness.

The vendor turned to greet him, the annoyance with her vanishing into the bright, welcoming smile he gave the newcomer.

“Welcome Sir, I’ll be with you in just…”

The brown stranger shook his head and took a step closer to the stall, leaning over the table towards the vendor. “No, actually I think you’ll be with me right now, thanks,” the stranger said cheerfully, but there was a hint of ice in his voice. “You see, I don’t really like it when I find people taking advantage of others. Especially when they’re obviously tourists….”

It scared her a little that he’d been casual and friendly one moment, but now all of a sudden he was silently intimidating this man. It was kind of just like the Doctor when he was being protective of her. Like he tended to be.

Rose shook her head; this wasn’t her Doctor. This was just a kind man, who’d come to her rescue.

And she was just standing here like a damsel in distress, letting him intimidate a poor man who was just giving her a hard time. And maybe it had been a little justified.

She was grateful to him, but it was nothing really.

Rose stepped forward, reaching out to lightly place a hand on the strangers arm. She didn’t really want to touch him, invade his privacy like this since she didn’t know him at all. But she needed to distract him somehow.

“Please, it's fine. Don’t worry about it,” Rose said softly. “I was just looking, wasn’t going to buy them anyways.”

As her hand brushed the sleeve of his brown suit, Rose heard the man draw in a sharp breath and felt him tense before almost consciously relaxing. Once he had, he slowly straightened before turning to look at her for the first time since he appeared. As he turned, his hands slid into his pockets from where they’d been on the edge of the table.

She was surprised to find herself staring into warm brown eyes in a handsome face, with one of the brightest smiles she’d ever seen. It was almost as strong as the wild grin her Doctor had sometimes.

As he stood there, seeming content to just look at her with that silly grin on his face, Rose shyly studied him.

The result was her coming to the conclusion that whoever this man was, he was incredibly handsome and kind, kind enough to help complete strangers. He also appeared to be human, or at least looked like a human, and was possibly from Earth. Although the only reason she thought that was because he sounded a lot like her when he spoke. But he was definitely cute, and if they’d met on Earth she’d probably have asked him out.

But, they weren’t on Earth.

And she had no idea who he was.

“So, thanks for that. Appreciate it. I was really only looking though, you didn’t have to help. He was just being a jerk,” Rose thanked him a little uncomfortably, wishing she’d been strong enough to have just ignored the vendor and walk away. She didn’t really need another pair of earrings; she’d just thought they were pretty. “But, like I said, thanks.”

Rose turned, glancing around for the Doctor. But there were just too many people around them in the crowd, and she couldn’t see the familiar leather-coated form anywhere.

Great, he _would _go off and leave her on her own. She appreciated the experience, kind of, but it would be nice to have at least some of a lead to follow. Rose sighed, and shifted uncomfortably.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing her standing there just in front of him, arms crossed protectively across her chest as she glanced up and down the street obviously looking for him, was just so peculiar. Even by his standards.

She looked so young, still inexperienced of the things he and his Rose went through daily. But the potential he had seen in her that had driven him to ask her along still glowed, so brightly.

All that she would see and experience as they traveled together….

He was brought abruptly back to the present when Rose flashed him one last smile and made as if to move past him, blending back into the crowd.

Anxious not to lose her, and aware that since Rose was currently with this Rose’s Doctor she couldn’t go back to him just yet, he reached out as she came even with him. As he did so, even without meaning to, his fingers clasped loosely around her wrist.

“Please, wait. I’m sorry,” He apologized sincerely, and then added quickly as she turned back towards him, releasing her wrist, “I didn’t mean to intrude, I was just walking by and I thought- it sounded like you might need help.” The Doctor sighed, letting out an annoyed breath before raising his hand to run it through his hair, impatient with himself. Distractedly, he noticed Rose’s eyes follow his hand upwards and found himself smiling at that, his mind racing back to the Christmas morning when he’d finally woken up after regenerating into this body, and on a Sycorax ship where he’d been rambling about what he looked like.

Finally he sighed and asked, giving her his best innocent, I-wouldn’t-hurt-a-flea, I’m being sincere look that he hoped she would believe. “Please, let me make it up to you. You’re a stranger to this planet, right? Let me show you around, there are tonnes of interesting things I could show you. Lots and lots of history and exciting trivia.” He knew that he was babbling, but for some reason he couldn’t stop himself. Even though this wasn’t his Rose, she was still Rose, and he was somehow eager for her approval, to know that she liked him. “Let me at least do that much for you, please.”

He tried not to fidget under her gaze as she studied him, obviously weighing the decision in her mind. But as nearly a minute went by he lowered her arms and her entire defensive posture relaxed.

And then, when she finally looked him in the eyes again, she was smiling. And all the suspicion and wariness in her eyes was gone; they were simply bright, excited brown. Just the way she looked like when they landed on a new planet.

“Right. I think I’d like that,” Rose said warmly, then held out her hand to him, taking a few steps down the street.

The Doctor stared at her hand for several moments, the hand like the one he always took now without thinking. But this was a younger Rose, who’d just begun to travel with the younger him.

So he shouldn’t, he really, really, really shouldn’t…

The Doctor stepped up beside her, doing his best to ignore the hand that remained in the air for several long seconds before falling back to her side with a disappointed look. Instead, he turned to look at her with the brightest smile he could manage for her.

“Well, come on then! No time like the present!” He chirped excitedly, and steered her out into the crowd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Throughout the day, as this strange but kind man showed her around the town, Rose watched him curiously. His reactions to her confused her; one moment he was smiling at her and seemed almost ready to hold her hand, but then he’d move just far enough from her that the distance was barely noticeable and start on a long-winded, rambling, yet- she had to admit- very informative commentary on something.

This stranger was so strange, and yet, he was kind of familiar at the same time. In the few hours they spent together, Rose found herself glancing sideways at him, watching his expressions and fascinated by how quickly they changed. For some reason every time he smiled at her, her heart beat faster, and the excitement in his voice as he pointed things out to her and told her about them seemed to be infectious. The longer she spent with him, the more she found herself smiling and laughing around him, even though by all means she should be suspicious of him.

But instead she enjoyed being with him, walking next to him as they made their way around the city, listening to his excited chatter. It was almost like being around the Doctor after they’d landed on a new planet, and he was playing tour guide to her.

Almost, but not quite.

This man had so much energy, and he seemed really excited about all he was telling her. They would stop at one place, and he’d point out a building or structure to her before going off explaining why it was important. Then as soon as he was done, he’d be moving again down the street.

A few times, the thought crossed her mind that he was like a kid who’d been given a lot of sugar, and was highly excitable. He rarely ever stopped, for anything.

But then, there were times when she caught him looking at her not with his usual bright smile as he rambled, but with a softer smile that actually reached his dark eyes. In those moments, she wondered at how familiar he was, and the way he glanced at her hands sometimes when he probably thought she wasn’t looking. As if he was just about take her hand, but then decided not to for some reason.

Part of her desperately wanted him to.

He never did though. Sometimes he came close enough to her that he was barely an inch away, the sleeve of his suit just touching her arm. But as soon as he noticed, he’d pull away so there was an obvious space between them, babbling a hurried apology. Never once did he purposefully touch her, and, confused, she never touched him.

He was so strange. But as he said, the whole time they’d been going around the city, he’d never done anything bad or untoward to her. He’d been the perfect gentleman, despite being a stranger. For some reason she trusted him, although she knew she shouldn’t.

Just like with the Doctor, Rose found herself saying things and doing things just to make him smile, and to hear him laugh. To make sure that he was happy, and as a way to thank him for all he was doing.

But, also to erase the bleakness that haunted his eyes sometimes, just like her Doctor’s.

It didn’t happen often; mostly he was all energy and smiles. But there were times when his smile faltered, and he’d look away from her, going still until she said something and he turned back to her, his energy returned.

When that happened, she had the impulse to ask him what’d happened to him. But she always bit her tongue and asked something else, not wanting to add to the darkness in his eyes any more.

She liked it much more when he smiled and laughed.

While they were together, time seemed to fly by, so that walking around the market with him, having a small, delicious lunch together, and simply seeing the sights seemed to take no time at all.

So when Rose suddenly realized that they were back in the street they’d started from, just at the other end, she was truly surprised.

Rose turned towards the stranger, wondering why he had brought her back here when there were probably lots more places he could have shown her. But she hesitated when she noticed that soft look on his face again, and saw him smiling at her with a smile that reached his eyes.

“W-why are we back here?” Rose asked him curiously, her voice shaking a little as her gaze darted away.

He laughed, but not a mocking laugh, and asked kindly, “Wasn’t there more here you wanted to look at? I can’t imagine you had much time before I, err… whisked you away.”

“Mm, well,” Rose said uncertainly, glancing around at the stalls nearby. “There might’ve been…”

The man stepped closer to her and bent down slightly so his mouth was near her ear. “I hear the jewelry at that stall,” he lifted a hand to point at a certain table a little up the street from them and on the left, “are especially beautiful. You should go look, they’d suit you.”

Rose turned to stare in astonishment at him, blushing when she realized just how close he was. “Um, right, sure,” she stammered before rushing off in that direction.

Once at the stall, she found the stranger had been right- all the things laid out on the table were much more beautiful than anything she’d seen on Earth.

She was so focused on the jewelry in front of her that Rose didn’t notice the stranger come up beside her and lean down to whisper in her ear once more.

“Have a fantastic life, Rose Tyler. I’ll see you soon.”

Rose gasped and whirled around. But he was already gone, having faded back into the crowd.

He’d disappeared from her life just as suddenly as he’d appeared in it.

And she hadn’t even asked his name.  



	5. Faces in the Crowd 5/5

“Rose.”

She spun around at the sound of that so familiar Northern voice saying her name, the table of jewelry she’d just been looking at behind her.

“Doctor,” Rose greeted him warmly, her eyes drifting away to look around them for the brown suited man with the accent like her own who’d been at her side just seconds ago.

The Doctor must have noticed her searching gaze, not that she was being very subtle, because he frowned at her then said sternly, crossing his arms, “First rule of traveling with me Rose: don’t wander off. Yet for some reason you insist on doing just that. It’s not safe being alone on a strange planet Rose, especially with your tendency of making trouble. You can’t just disappear into the crowd- even for just a few minutes.”

Rose ignored his reference to their long-standing teasing of who got into the most trouble of the two of them, and replied, “I, I didn’t wander off, you just weren’t there all of a sudden. And I wasn’t alone either; a nice man was with me.”

“You would go off with strangers,” the Doctor grumbled, and then said more loudly, “And who exactly was this mystery man you were going about the city with? Didn’t happen to catch his name did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” Rose replied calmly in the face of his harshly sarcastic remarks. She had expected as much from him. “But,” she continued after a thoughtful pause, “He reminded me a lot… of you.”

Any amusement that had been in the Doctor’s expression suddenly vanished behind the pain that seemed to swallow everything before fading into an uncomfortable iciness.

“How many times do I have to tell you Rose, I’m one of a kind, me. Only one in the universe.” He flashed her a grin so plainly fake that it hurt her to look at it. “Like no one else.”

Rose took a cautious step forward, gently taking his rough hands in her own. “I didn’t say he _was_ you, Doctor,” she scolded gently, “I said he _reminded_ me of you.”

The girl thought over the many similarities she had seen between her Doctor and the kind brown-suited man; even though their eyes were different colors they both held the same warmth- as well as the same loneliness hidden just out of sight in their depths. She had also felt as safe with him by her side as she did around the Doctor, like no matter what they would always be safe, and would always be together.

For some reason, the other man inspired the same unshakable faith, bravery and love in her towards him as the Doctor did in her.

She had no idea why.

But, for some reason she didn’t mind.

Rose opened her mouth to tell the Doctor about all of these things, but when she took in the warmth, the amusement, and the fondness in his gaze she decided that it was enough for now.

“C’mon,” she told him smiling, stepping away from him as she tugged on his hands and began gently leading him down the street towards the TARDIS. “Let’s go home.”

 ~~~~~~

After searching around the center of the city, Rose finally found her Doctor leaning against one of the walls in the main square, casually eating an ice cream cone as if he hadn’t just been wandering around the city with her younger self. She remembered this encounter now, even more once she had found her first Doctor and began to spend time with him.

Rose especially remembered how fond she had become of the brown stranger in such a short time and how he had reminded her so much of her own Doctor. That was little surprise to her now.

“Doctor,” Rose greeted warmly, smiling up at him as her eyes flickered momentarily towards the ice cream in amusement. Despite being over nine hundred years old, he could still be such a little kid sometimes.

At the sound of her voice and his name, the Doctor glanced towards her, flashing her one of his warm, honest smiles and held out his cone in a silent invitation.

“Cheers,” Rose thanked him, taking the cone from his hand and then took a hesitant taste. It was chocolate, of course.

When she looked back at him again his eyes were off of her and focused on something in front of them, across the square.

Curious and still munching on the cone, Rose followed his gaze towards where he was looking. A soft smile slowly grew on her face as she realized just what he was looking at.

Across the square from them, her younger self and her first Doctor were walking in the opposite direction down the street towards where they had parked the TARDIS that time. As they walked, her arm was linked through his as she leaned against his shoulder with their fingers clasped intertwined between them.

And, for just a second, Rose missed that him.

Without a word, and without turning her head, Rose reached out with her hand towards the Doctor who was leaning against the wall next to her. Then she felt her heart soar when he took it and gently squeezed her hand back.

Though for all the good times with her first Doctor, she cared for this Doctor just as much.

The two of them stood together hand-in-hand, enjoying each other’s company as they watched their younger selves walk away from them. At least until the other pair finally disappeared around the corner and into an alleyway.

After that, Rose quickly finished off the cone he had given her, licking any stray ice cream off her fingers, then turned- still holding his hand- and simply grinned at him.

The Doctor peeled away from the wall to turn and face her with a soft smile, which quickly changed into disbelief as he took in the lack of ice cream.

“What did you do with my cone?” He asked, voice squeaking slightly.

Rose gave him the most innocent look she could muster. “You offered it to me, and I took it. Just coincidence I happened to finish it before you could notice, or say you wanted it back.”

He stared at her, the smile slowly flickering back into existence. “Rose Tyler, you’re such a tease.”

“Oh like you aren’t,” Rose quipped, squeezing his hand. Then, when she was sure he had sweated for a few long seconds she added with a dramatic sigh, “I guess I can buy you another one.”

“Really?” He asked eagerly, giving her his wide-eyed puppy look as if to sway her decision.

Rose nodded, gently pulling her hand from his to make a show of rummaging through the pockets of her hoodie and then her jeans. “Sure, but it’ll have to be with your own money. Sorry.”

“That’s unfair!” The Doctor protested, then after a moment frowned pensively, “But I really do want that cone…”

“Go on then,” Rose told him with a laugh, turning him around so his back was to her and then gave him a gently push in the direction of the ice cream stand.

But then, when he had taken a few steps forward she reached out and tightly grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, stopping him.

At her touch the Doctor slowly turned back towards her, dislodging her grip, to look down at her worriedly. “Rose?” he asked softly, raising his hands to rest on her shoulders.

For a few seconds Rose hung her head as she gathered courage in order to ask the question that was most important in her mind just then. Even though part of her was afraid of the answer, she still needed to know.

“Do you, do you miss it?” She asked softly, lifting her head to look him in the eyes. When he just seemed confused, Rose sighed before explaining, “Miss being him, I mean.”

He gave her a wide-eyed stare, inhaling sharply through his teeth as he realized what she was asking. “No, no Rose, of course I-“ he began to deny before he stopped mid-sentence with a confused expression. “I, I,” the Doctor ruffled his hair, looking away.

Rose bit her lip; she hadn’t meant to get him so upset. That was why she’d been so hesitant to ask in the first place. After his regeneration, and before they had started traveling again, Rose had made sure that he understood she cared about this him just as much as she had cared for the Doctor before him- that she accepted him and knew he was still her Doctor.

But maybe the question she had just asked had ruined all of that, despite how long they had been traveling together since then, and how much she had come to care for him.

After all, he was different now.

“D-Doctor,” Rose began nervously, “Forget it okay? I shouldn’t have asked.”

All of a sudden his hands were gripping her shoulders in a firm but reassuring way, and Rose looked up to see him looking back at her sternly, his dark eyes warm.

“Don’t say that Rose, there’s no reason at all for you to apologize. I was just being ridiculous,” he told her firmly, then bent slightly so he could look her straight in the eyes. “Honestly Rose? Yes, there are some times I miss being Mr. Grumpy ol’ Big Ears. But at the same time, I’m just happy that I can still spend time with you and travel with you.” A soft smile grew on his face, and from that smile, and the look in his eyes, she understood what he was telling her, both with his words and with how he was looking at her. All of which were summed up in his next, heartsfelt words, “And I wouldn’t miss that for anything in all of space and time.”

Rose felt tears gathering in her eyes, so before he noticed she gave a teary, choked laugh and launched herself towards him wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and then buried her face in the cloth of his suit.

A few seconds later, Rose felt his arms come tightly around her and then his head rest lightly against hers, offering her silent comfort. Knowing that he wouldn’t push her if she didn’t want him to, Rose sighed and stood there in his embrace, listening to the reassuring sound of his double heartbeat.

When she had gotten herself under control again, Rose squeezed him once more then gently pulled away so there was space between them again, wiping her eyes. She wondered briefly since when did she get so emotional?

Before her hands could fall back to her sides the Doctor had taken them in his, silently persuading her to look up at him.

“You okay?” He asked softly.

Rose nodded, not yet trusting her voice again.

He squeezed her hands, “Rose, I meant everything I said, okay? Remember that.”

“Right.”

After a moments pause, the worry on his face faded into one of his light-hearted grins. “Well then, let’s be off, sh,all we?” He tugged lightly on her hands, leading her across the square to their right. “You know, while I was wandering I found the most amazing little shop… it had so many interesting things in it…”


End file.
